Conservation Resources 
Lie-Free® Type I 



FITRSA 



ND MYSTERY 



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Published by 

FRANK W. ENGLISH 




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PREFATORY 

The commerce in furs has taken such rapid 
strides that the general knowledge of furs has not 
kept apace; it seems a timely benevolence to in- 
terest and instruct people to the end that fur buy- 
ing may be done with an intelligence v»'hich begets 
confidence. 

It is, therefore the purpose of the following 
pages to tell concisely and comprehensively a few 
essential facts about fur and fur bearing animals — 
the durability, appearance, suitability and possibili- 
ties of every v/earable pelt; hints on the detection 
of flaws and the discrimination between the real 
fur and its imitations and substitutions. 

It is the desire of the author to enlighten the 
buyer ' rather than to expose the unreliable mer- ■\ 
chant; to stimulate the buying of furs by confidence f! 
rather than retard prospective purchasing by in- 
stilling the fear of fraud. 

That this book prove helpfully instructive is i 
sincerely hoped but if it be found also scientifically il 
interesting it is fulfilling a two fold purpose and :1 
its end is truly accomplished. 



INTEGRITY + KNOWLEDGE 

If every person who contemplates the purchase 
of furs would choose the store they patronize as 
carefully as they choose the furs they buy, there 
would be little question about their getting "value 
received" for the money they expend. 

Far too little attention is ordinarily given to this 
tremendously important point. Unfortunately, in- 
tegrity is not to be found on every hand — price 
bait and style talk often being offered in its stead. 

By this it is not meant that style and price are 
not vital factors in getting value for one's money, 
but let it be emphatically realized that they are 
decidedly secondary to quality, which always goes 
hand in hand with integrity. 

The written guaranteee of an unreliable store is 
not worth the paper on which it is penned, but the 
word of an honest dealer is value-insurance worth 
while. 

Nor does it necessarily follow that the dealer o£ 
integrity does not have bargain values. Rather on 
the contrary, it is in his store that the real bargains 
will be found; for what he sells will wear, and 
therein lies the test of whether a garment is good 
value or bad. 

It is also important to remember that, besides 
integrity, your dealer must have a complete and 
thorough knowledge of his business if his integrity 
is to be of any value to you, for he might tell you, 
with the best of intentions in the world, that the fur 
he is showing you is this, that or the other thing, 
when he, himself, has been fooled in purchasing it. 

It takes a mighty keen judge of furs to distin- 
guish between the real and some of the clever imi- 
tations of today, so make sure before you start out 
that your chosen dealer, besides being honest, knows 
his business thoroughly. 



FURS AND 

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WHEN AND WHERE GOOD 
SKINS ARE PROCURED 

It may be interesting to know that the skins of 
animals caught in densely wooded districts are 
anuch darker and of a higher quality than those 
caught in the more exposed regions, the fur being 
softer and more silky. 

The colder the season or region in which the 
animals are caught, the better the color and quality 
of the fur. For that reason the skins of the ham- 
ster, marmot, Chinese goat and lamb, Tartar, 
pony, v/easel, various monkeys, antelopes, fox, 
otter, jackals and other animals captured in the 
^warmer zones were, until a few years ago, quite 
neglected. However, the demand for furs and the 
deftness with which these skins are dressed or 
dyed and many made up to resemble that which they 
.are not, has brought them into greater use. 

Thanks to the vagaries of fashion, some furs 
are occasionally neglected, giving Nature an op- 
portunity to replenish their source. Were it not 
-for this, some fur-bearing animals would soon be- 
come extinct. 

The sea otter in particular is rapidly becoming 
extinct through increasing demand and decreasing 
-supply. A mature sea otter often exceeds six feet 
in length and an exceptionally fine skin will bring 
in the neighborhood of tv/o thousand dollars. The 
fur is beautiful beyond description, attractive and 
luxurious as v/ell as exceptionally durable. 

Variations in the color of the fur are many and 
anarked — the rich, lustrous black is interspersed 
with glistening white hairs or silvery-white hairs 
sprinkled irregularly over the surface of the dense 
fur. Seme skins are deep brown, shading into 
:black, some bluish-grey, some a beautiful plum 
color and others slightly yellow. 

The fur of the sea otter was long a favorite 
with royalty in Russia and China, and because of its 
^scarcity and great value few of us can afford to 
wear it. 

The fur of the land otter is coarser and, in many 
srespects, much different from that of the sea otter. 



MYSTERY 3 



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ALASKAN AND HUDSON SEAL 

Natural Fur Seal, and there is only one species 
though found in various places, is a rare animal 
whose fur is of such quality and beauty that the 
meager supply cannot begin to fill the demand. 

It is not surprising therefore, that a variety of 
substitutes have been produced to serve in Nature's 
stead — some good, some bad, many quite indifferent. 

Right here is where we do not want to get out 
of step — good substitutes, when sold honestly as 
such, are not by any means to be condemned, 
especially when the genuine article, because of its 
scarcity, is beyond the financial reach of many 
who would enjoy it. 

"Hudson Seal", "Near Seal", "Electric Seal", 
"Baltic Seal", French Seal" and similar "species" 
are in no sense seal. Each is the skin of some 
other animal from which, like seal itself, the coarse 
hairs have been extracted by machinery. Skil- 
full dyeing completes the imitation, which in some 
instances can scarcely be detected from the gen- 
uine. 

Of all substitutes, the so-called "Hudson Seal" 
excels. In reality it is muskrat, which is a very 
good fur in itself and may creditably be sold as an 
imitation and NOT as a species of seal, presumably 
from the vicinity of Hudson Bay. 

"French Seal" and "Baltic Seal" are disguising 
titles for seal-dyed coney, a small animal that is 
found in France. As a skin, coney does not rank 
as high as muskrat, but that does not necessarily 
prevent its being used as an imitation of seal at 
its proper price level, provided again it IS sold 
as seal-dyed coney and NOT as a foreign species 
of genuine seal. : y 




4 FURS AND 

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MINK 

There are enough grades of genuine mink fur to 
send one scampering to the reliable fur dealer — 
not even to mention the clever substitutes which 
abound in places where dollars rule instead of 
reputations! 

The mink is a larger species of the weasel family, 
found in all parts of the United States and Canada. 
In the numerous sections in which the animals are 
found, the quality of mink skins varies even more 
widely than the climate, the month in which each 
animal is caught helping further to govern the 
worth of its skin. 

The beauty of mink skin is in its long, lus- 
trous overhairs, rather than the soft underfur, and 
skins taken along the North Atlantic coast, north- 
ern United States and Canada, in the months of 
December and January possess greater density and 
brilliance than those taken in any other place oi 
at any other time. 

It is a part of the unreliable fur dealer's business 
to darken or "blend" inferior Southern or Western 
skir.s of yellov/er cast, by applying a tincture to the 
fur, and then sell them as natural Eastern skins. 

Another so-called "trick of the trade" is to leng- 
then small skins by piecins-in, or by cutting small 
slits in the edges and carefully pulling lengthwise 
until the notches are drawn out and the sides of 
the skin have again become straight edges. 

Now what does all this convey to the prospec- 
tive purchaser of "the most economical of furs?" 

That she must depend upon her dealer's integrity, 
first — for prime Eastern pelts, not Southern or 
Western; second — for skins that have been caught 
at the proper time of the year, even though in the 
right section; third — for skins that were the right 
color when caught, not "doctored" afterwards; 
fourth — for selected skins of the proper size, not 
lengthened to suit, and fifth — for fair pricing upon 
the basis of purchase, not upon the basis of what 
they might be worth next season. 



MYSTERY 



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MOLE 

This is not the first honest story about the mole. 
In numerous passages of the Bible this little ani- 
mal is mentioned in an interesting and impressive 
manner. 

From that good day to this, many things have 
been perpetrated in the name of the tiny excavator 
of tunnels and builder of hills, that would not look 
well in print. 

For example a large percentage of the "mole- 
skin" found in today's market comes from an animal 
many times the size of the busy little mole — namely 
the muskrat. 

This fur, when sheared, makes an unusually good 
imitation of the real thing, and is, therefore, a 
treacherous substitute in the hands of an unscrup- 
ulous dealer. 

In nine cases out of ten he will get the price 
of the genuine, which is fairly costly because of the 
tininess of the skins and the difficulty with which 
they are caught, while the customer gets the imita- 
tion. 

V/ere you to enter his shop with a request 
for genuine moleskin and have the genuine placed 
before you, at its fair price, and then the substitute, 
as a substitute, mind ycu. at its proper fij^ure — then 
all would be v/ell, and this article need never have 
been written. But the time has not yet come when 
all stores will do this, so one still must be keenly 
on one's guard. 

Genuine moleskins are of a bluish black and are 
no longer or broader than one's hand. The majority 
of them come from Scotland, while Holland adds 
smaller collections to the annual supply. 

Muskrat skins range up to 15 inches in length 
and are extremely plentiful in all parts of this 
country and Canada. You can readily see, there- 
fore, that the margin of illigitimate profits is no 
small item. 

Besides muskrat, there are poorer substitutes for 
moleskin, such as rabbit, which in turn can be sold 
to you as muskrat imitation, if not as the mole- 
skin itself. 



6 FURS AND 

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FUR DRESSING 

The wearer of furs probably little realizes the 
work and number of processes necessary to render 
a skin fit for wear. 

The dressing of skins is an occupation, or really 
an art, far more aged than civilization. Just where 
the Indians or Esquimaux learned the art is not 
known, but we do know that in the dressing of 
skins they are not excelled by the expert workmen 
of today with all their mechanical devices or ma- 
terials. 

Probably the crudest method of skin dressing 
was practiced by the American Indians, who used 
to select a smooth, hard piece of ground, fasten- 
ing the skin to it with v/ooden pegs. A dressing 
made from the juices of certain wild berries, mixed 
with the brains of the animal from which the 
pelt was taken, was then rubbed over and worked 
into the leather until it was nearly dry. V^th a 
blunt instrument the mixture was then scraped off, 
leaving the pelt soft and clean. 

The Esquimaux method of rendering skins soft 
was to have the v/omen chew them bit by bit until 
the whole skin had been softened. 

The white man has improved upon the method 
in v^-hich skins are dressed, but he has little im- 
proved upon the results obtained by his less civil- 
ized brothers. 

In the early days of this country's history the 
red man was the victim of dishonest white men 
who took advantage of his lack of knowledge of 
values, taking his valuable pelts in exchange for 
a few glass beads or other trinkets worth a few 
cents. 

Today the public, because of its lack of know- 
ledge of fur values, is the victim of the dishonest 
fur dealer. 



COYPU 
(Nutria) 

Nutria is a trade name for the fur of the Coypu, 
one of the few fur-bearing animals of South Amer- 
ica. It is a fur which closely resembles beaver. 
When unhaired and dyed enough of it has been sold 



MYSTERY 



as beaver cr seal (which it can be made to imitate) 
to mean fortunes to the unscrupulous dealers who 
put over the deception. 

Of late, however, nutria has come into its own 
very largely, and this opens up a new field for the 
illegitimate profit seekers — that of creating sub- 
stitutes for it. 

Ycu can readily see, therefore, that it is a dif- 
ficult thing to get, in an unreliable store, good 
nutria fur under its own name. Many of the good 
and medium grades are masquerading as beaver 
and seal while the poor skins and the substitutes 
take its plsce. 

Unlike all northern skins, nutria is cured by 
drying in the open air, in the direct rays of the 
sun. which undoubtedly has much to do v/ith its 
great durability. For years it has ranked next to 
beaver in the manufacture of superfine, durable 
and costly felt hats for men. 

All of this shows us that, First — nutria is a 
good fur. Second — like all other furs, it is of 
many grades. Third, — it is used largely to im- 
itate more costly furs. Fourth — it is widely imi- 
tated. And Fifth — that the dealer of integrity 
is the man to patronize every time. 



SABLE 

Sable is a fur which people are usually some- 
what cautious about buying, due perhaps to the 
money involved, and yet that same caution might 
well be used in buying furs of ANY kind. Were 
you in the m.arket for a sable piece, the dealer 
without reputation would no doubt get little con- 
sideration, because you would feel that he was 
well armed with substitutes. 

And well you might. 

From the lowly rabbit, or coney, upward to the 
mink, no possible substitute for sable has been 
overlooked. 

Marmot, hare, fitch, weasel and muskrat are all 
used in attempting to imitate this valuable fur, 
but the deception is usually poor — due to the fact 
that genuine sable fur is long, dense and remark- 
ably soft. Besides this, it is so peculiarly rooted 
in the skin that it may be brushed with the hand 



FURS AND 



in the natural direction, from head to tail, or the 
reverse, and it will remain as placed without ap- 
parent injury or loss of beauty. 

The best grade of sable fur comes from Russia, 
and here again the dealer who lacks honesty has 
a chance to deceive, as it is a common practice for 
such men to offer American sable at a price as 
high as that usually asked for the genuine Russian 
sable. 



KOLINSKY 

Kolinsky is a small and rather handsome fur- 
bearer resembling the American Mink, or European 
Marten, and is known abroad as Siberian Sable, 
Tartar, Sable and Siberian Marten. 

The fur, hov/ever, is unlike that of either the 
Sable or Marten, being shorter, harsher and lighter 
in tint that that of the Sables, the general color be- 
ing a bright golden, handsome shade of yellow, or 
brownish yellov/, quite uniform in tone on all parts 
of the body. 

Kolinsky is made up natural or dyed Mink color, 
cr much darker shades of brown. The best skins 
are found in Kola, Russia, while large numbers are 
obtained in China, 

One of the many Beautiful features of Kolinsky 
are the tails, which are vised extensively in trimming 
capes, coats and stoles, either natural or v/hen 
split and used flat. 

Like all other furs of quality. Kolinsky is imi- 
tated by cheaper and inferior furs of various 
kinds, such as rabbit, hare, etc. 

It is therefore an important thing that you buy 
your Kolinsky cape or coat in a store of estab- 
lished reliability if you would get the fur of the 
little Asiatic animal and not the skins of its lowly 
imitators. 

Another chance one takes in dealing with a 
furrier without reputation is that one must depend 
entirely upon the dealer's word, for he has no 
other way of knowing whether the fur in question 
is of the finer Russian grade, or of the poorer qual- 
ity from China-jrrif it should happen to be a g«enuine 
Kolinsky at all. 



MYSTERY 



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MUSKRAT 

Spring caught black muskrat fur is the finest 
grade procurable. From this class downward, 
there are so many different qualities that one is 
bewildered in thinking of them — the principal de- 
termining features being, where caught, when 
caught, what size and what color. 

Muskrat is a durable fur — one of the best wearing 
furs known exceeding in this virtue several of the 
more costly though less plentiful animals. It is 
fair then to presume that if muskrats were less 
plentiful, the fur v/ould sell at avery much higher 
price. 

Besides being so durable, muskrat fur is always 
in strong demand because it can be used in almost 
any condition — natural, plucked, blended, dyed or 
sheared. 

In all these conditions, however, it is not sold 
as muskrat, for the unreliable fur dealer can get 
a better price for it as mink, brook mink, water 
mink, Hudson seal, electric seal. Red River and 
numerous other kinds of seal, [none of which 
exists — and, when sheared, as moleskin. 

Regardless of the many lower grades of musk- 
rat fur, which can be doctored to sell at higher 
prices than they are v/orth, other skins of still 
lower value than the poorer muskrat are "treated" 
and sold by conscienceless dealers as the genuine. 

Few people would consider entering the store 
of a diamond merchant of unknown standing and 
buying a stone merely on his v/ord that it was 
"the real thing," perfectly cut, first v/ater, etc., 
yet there is more room for deception in selling 
muskrat fur, and most people know less about it 
than about gems. 

FUR FARMS 

The constantly growing scarcity of furs will 
eventually lead to the establishment of fur farms. 
In fact, the number of fur farms being established 
in Alaska and the Yukon territory is increasing 
each year. 

The successful breeding of fur bearing animals 
in captivity presents many difficulties. Take for 
example the establishing of a fox farm; a single 



10 FURS AND 

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pair o£ silver or black foxes represents an invest- 
ment o£ well into five figures. After securing a pair 
of fojies it is very possible that they may not 
survive in captivity. This virould make necessary 
the securing of another pair at great expense and 
with much delay. 

Although foxes and seme few other animals are 
nov/ being raised in captivity with fair success, it 
is not likely that their numbers will be so great as 
to lov^'er present prices when placed on the market. 

It is fortunate that these animal farms can fur- 
nish even a limited number of skins, for the news- 
papers tell us that there is likely to be but little 
trapping dene in the far North for the next ten 
years, epidemics of influenza having nearly wiped 
out whole tribes of Eskimo and Indian trappers. 

In 1910 to save the rapidly disappearing seals, 
the United States government took charge of the 
seal industry on the Pribiloff Islands. Under the 
watchful eye of the bureau of fisheries, which has 
charge cf the herds of seals on the islands, their 
numbers have increased steadily and it is probable 
that the price of seal will be reduced within the 
next few years. 

Until the supply of skins can be increased — 
either through fur farming or governmental pro- 
tection — it v/ill be necej:sar3/' for you to select 
furs v.'ith both eyes open for dishonest fur dealers 
v/ill continue to gouge the public just as long as 
they can foster upon it imitations at genuine prices. 



OPOSSUM 

The opossum continues to flourish in America and 
Australia despite the fact that he is hunted early 
and late in every season except summer. Most of 
the specimens in general use in the making of 
ladies' coats, neck pieces, muffs, etc., come from 
Australia and are large and pure grey, sooty or 
black in color. They are also better furred than \\ 
the American specimens, having longer fleece and i; 
ranking higher in value. ^ j 

In its arborial travels the opossum uses its '. 
tail as a hand, not in going up, but in coming down; 
when it wishes to descend it curls the end of its j 
tail around a branch and fearlessly swings down i 



MYSTERY It 

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head first to the limb below, to which it could 
not otherwise reach and to which it dare not 
jump. 

The young opossums are not much larger thait) 
mice at birth. While the young arc developing the 
mother carries them in a pouch, where they are 
perfectly safe from harm, and to which they instinc- 
tively retreat when alarmed. Carrying a litter o£ 
young seems to be no handicap to Mrs. Opossum, 
as she swings from branch to branch in the trees. 

Australia also furnishes millions of rabbit skins 
annually in black, blue and silvery color. These are' 
a part of the skins used by deceiving furriers in 
imitating the more costly furs of sable or seal, 
and for which you are asked to pay a handsome- 
price. 



FISHER 

The demand for anything and everything furry 
prior to the start of the war in 1914 had carried 
the prices of all skins to top notch and would, with 
out doubt have exterminated most fur bearers,, 
including the fisher, had not millions of men beenr 
occupied with the killing of each other. 

The fisher is the largest member of the marten 
cr sable family and is found in Canada, the Lake 
Superior region, northern New York and occasion- 
ally in Pennsylvania. This animal is slender of 
body, has a long pointed head, short limbs and a 
long and very furry tail ; its fur is dense and of good 
color, but shorter than the fur of the marten. 

Many variations are noticeable in its fur, which 
is generally of a blackish hue with a greyish tinge 
on the head and shoulders; some specimens are 
brown on the back and grey on the sides; others 
are a paler shade of brown, and a few have a white 
spot at the throat. 

The fur of the fisher, aside from being in fashion 
in America and Paris, found a ready market in 
Russia, where it was used for the making of costly^ 
robes, ladies' hats, etc. Fisher tail trimming is 
also very popular at times. 

Fashion quite naturally determines the price of 
these skins and in 1906, when fisher was only mod- 
erately fashionable, dark raw skins brought six ta- 



12 FUT?S AND 



ten dollars ; since that time they have steadily 
risen in price, until today a first-class skin will 
bring many times that amount. 

However, the £ur o£ the lisher is often imitated 
with raccoon and is also subject to one of the 
"tricks of the trade" — that of enlarging the natural 
skin by cutting small slits in the edges and care- 
fully pulling lengthwise till the notches are drawn 
out and the edges of the skin are again straight. 



BROADTAIL AND CARACUL 

Enormous quantities of lamb skins of various 
kinds are regularly used in the manufacture of 
wearing apparel in this and other countries. While 
most of the skins are white, many are light or mix- 
ed grey, and a few are black. 

Persian lamb finds large use in the manufacture 
of ladies' and children's apparel and in addition to 
being an excellent mourning fur, it is considered 
by seme as being superior in beauty to any fur with 
the possible exception of sable. 

Broadtail lamb skins have been taken from un- 
born Iambs, but are usually taken from lambs a 
few days old. The tight curl and the wave of 
the fleece show a handsome weave effect similar 
to that in moire silk. In fact, a garment of broad- 
tail, properly fitted, will show the lines of the 
figure equally as well as a garment of moire silk. 

Caracul is a handsomely figured, beautifully 
curled skin taken from young lambs before its 
excellent black color begins to change. 

Space does not permit us to describe the various 
gracies of lamb skins, but we have described the 
three most sought after. The others are lower in 
quality and should be, and generally are used in 
the making of cheaper garments than milady's 
apparel. 

While the demand for the various lamb skins 
is small in comparison to the demand for the skins 
of many other fur bearing animals, yet it is well 
to know these things and always select a furrier 
whose integrity is unquestioned. 



MYSTERY 13 



THE SKINNERS OF LONDON 

Deceiving the public as to furs is a trait by no 
means peculiar to twentieth century merchants 
alone, for in olden times there existed in England 
an association o£ furriers and skin dressers known 
as the Skinners Company of London. 

This association was established under a royal 
charter granted by Edward III and evidently the 
substitution of one fur for that of far greater 
value and other tricks were practised in those 
days as much as they are today by some merchants, 
for history tells us that the chief concern of this 
association was to prevent buyers from being im- 
posed upon. 

That this association was long lived and much 
needed is evidenced by the fact that a century 
later the members of the Skinner's Company re- 
ceived another charter giving them the right to 
inspect not warehouses and open markets alone, 
but workrooms as well. 

From this series of talks upon furs and fur 
dealers we do not want you to gain the impression 
that the majority of fur dealers are dishonest, 
unscrupulous or devoid of a thorough knowledge 
of the fur business. That is far from being the 
case — cur purpose in publishing these talks is to 
tell the prospective purchaser of furs what he or 
she should know, the better to distinguish between 
the reliable and the unreliable furrier. 

Nearly every concern dealing in furs occasionally 
advertises its stock or parts of it at reduced prices. 
But some concerns are dishonest enough to mark 
up the prices on a garment from twenty-five to 
one hunderd per cent, then cut the marked price 
to the original selling price and advertise "Great 
Price Reduction. 

There are conditions which make price reduc- 
tions perfectly legitimate — one, for instance, is 
the weather. In order to show a steady volume 
of business month by month and in order to keep 
its workers busy the year around, the inducement 
of reduced prices is afforded during the warmer 
weather. 



14 FURS AND 

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CIVET AND RINGTAIL CATS 

The ringtail and civet cats each have excuses 
for occupying a niche in the world's fur market. 

The former, after being dyed, very closely re- 
sembles sable and is used to imitate that fur- 
Frequenting the western slopes and Pacific 
Coast, from Canada to Mexico, the ringtail, rightly 
aiamed, for it has eight black and seven white 
rings of fur on its tail, is of light grayish brown 
•color and not at all handsome in its natural state. 
The civet is not often used as a substitute, but is 
very popular with people of pronounced bizarre 
taste, for it is so strikingly marked, with its 
large number of broad and narrow lines of white 
Tunning irregularly through the otherwise black 
fur that the wearer is destined to be the cynosure 
for many eyes. 

Reiterating how necessary it is to protect one's 
interests by dealing with people of experience, 
the following incident occurred some time ago. 

A customer entered a store and asked to be 
shown a Kolinsky coatee, and the clerk immediately 
laid before her a garment of stone marten, v/hich 
was recognized at once by the customer. Upon 
inquiring of the clerk as to the length of time she 
liad been employed selling furs, the clerk replied. 
"Four v^eeks, but you can learn ail about fur in 
that time." 



CHINCHILLA 

Far up in the Andes Mountains in Chili and 
Bolivia are the native haunts of the chinchilla. 
This little animal furnishes the most beautiful fur 
found in Sout^ America, or, according to many, 
in the whole world. 

The genuine chinchilla fur (we say genuine 
chinchilla fur because there are several cross breeds 
of the chinchilla whose fur does not compare with 
the genuine in density or softness) is as soft and 
delicate as purified down and its exquisite color- 
ing embraces every sh^de of grey from the light- 
est to the darkest. 

The chinchilla is a very small animal, being 
from ten to fourteen inches in length, including 



MYSTERY 15 



the tail, and until some twenty-five years ago the 
annual coliection of skins amounted to more than 
four hundred thousand. A few years ago, however, 
the Chilian government enacted a law prohibiting 
the catching, selling and exporting of these skins. 
After March 1922, they may be caught in limited 
numbers during but four months of the year. 

Because the majority of chinchilla skins came 
from Chili, the price of this fur has risen steadily 
since the enactment of this drastic protective 
measure till today only these of us possessing 
ample means can afford to adorn ourselves with 
this beautiful fur. 

In addition to the chinchilla. South America 
annually furnishes us with skins of the otter, wolf, 
skunk, weasel, puma, coypu. fox, wild cat, jaguar, 
paco and rabbit, as well as deer, elk, goat and 
sheep skins. 

Your preference in furs may or may not be 
chinchilla, but v/hatever i': may be, select it much 
as you v/ould a diamond — from a dealer whose 
reliability is assured and whose guarantee is de- 
pendable. 



AS A FURRIER BUYS— 

Fur buying is a side to the fur business equally 
as important to the prospective purchaser as the 
selling of furs, whether they be sold honestly or 
dishonestly. 

To deal honestly with the customers of his con- 
cern, the fur buyer must know furs from A to Z — 
he must know elxactly what he is buying and must 
sell them for exactly what they are. Then, too, he 
must know just v/hat constitutes a reasonable buy- 
ing price and a legitimate selling price. Unless 
he knows these things and unless he deals honestly 
with the public, most of whom know really little 
regarding furs, it will not take long for his con- 
cern to establish a reputation not at all envied 
by its more honest competitors. 

A dealer who v/ishes to deliberately deceive his 
patrons may, easily enough, offer imitations upon 
which the workmanship is so skillful that it is 
hard to distinguish between them and the genuine. 
Of course it is easy to detect badly or heavily 
dyed imitations for the under hiv is darkened be- 



16 _^^_^ £.H,5.lual!ll? 

yond its natural state and the skin itself is stained, 
but a cleverly dyed skin will deceive all but an 
expert. 

In imitation of the more or less expensive furs 
the domestic cat provides a wide variety of furs. 
White rabbit is sometimes sold as ermine, chin- 
chilla or even fox; the fur of the muskrat readily 
lends itself to imitations of seal, mink, sable and 
otter; hare skins dyed have been sold as sable, fox 
or lynx, and common red fox skins are dyed in 
imitation of black fox and with white hairs added 
are sold as silver fox, one of the most expensive 
furs on the market. 

The price of furs varies perhaps more than that 
of any other commodity of changeable value, and, 
as shown, substitution of one fur for another is 
comparatively easy. 



WOLVERINE 

It may seem like a small thing to the purchaser 
of furs, but nevertheless a few weeks' difference 
in the time a pelt is taken makes a tremendous 
difference in the finished fur piece. 

If you were selecting a fur could you tell whether 
the animal from which the pelt was taken was 
captured at the right time of the year or whether 
it was caught too early or too late? Probably not. 

A pelt captured early in the fall, before the temp- 
erature settles down below the freezing point, is 
unprime and is known as a "blue pelt." The fur 
of a blue pelt is invariably immature and the 
leather is weak. Had the animal been taken but 
a few weeks later the fur would have been far 
more valuable and would give immeasurably more 
wear. 

Pelts taken a few weeks late, that is, after the 
temperature has risen to above freezing, are known 
as "shedders." This is because the animal when 
taken was about to shed its heavy winter coat. 
Even after the skin has been taken from the 
animal, dressed, dyed and made up into the finished 
fur it will continue to shed. TJfiis makes it poor 
in wearing qualities. 

Any furrier who knows his business knows that 
shedders and blue pelts are almost worthless and 



^^ MYSTERY 17 

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nfliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiii 11 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii nil iiiiiiiiiiii I iiiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiixi 

if he is at all honest with his patrons he will not 
buy them at any price. Until laws are enacted 
prohibiting the capture of animals before their 
skins are prime, some furriers will continue to 
buy these furs because of their cheapness, selling 
them at prices asked for prime skins at more re- 
liable fur stores. 



AN EXPLANATION 

There may be those who have gained the im- 
pression that we believe this store is the only 
store dealing honestly with the public in the matter 
of furs. 

We are glad to say that this is not the case — 
there are concerns v/ho feel about the fur business 
just as we do — that the public should be told 
just what each particular fur is even though it be 
an imitation. These firms are glad to see an ex- 
pose made of the tricks of the unscrupulous fur 
dealer, and never willingly mislead the public re- 
garding furs either in their advertisements or in 
the selling of the garments. Occasionally, how- 
ever, the honest fur dealer is compromised through 
the ignorance of some of his salespeople. 

Aside from the determination to be strictly 
honest, these fur dealers know that to remain in 
business for long it is absolutely necessary that 
the public get exactly what it pays for and that 
while for the time being sales and profits might 
be larger if they resorted to deception — in the 
end they will profit far more if they treat the 
public honestly. 

If you are buying a substitute, or imitation fur, 
what interests you most is what you pay for it. 
In good fur shops you pay its real worth. It is 
of real value for its own sake. But if the dealer 
begins to refer to it as some especial kind of seal, 
or other costly skin, put it down in your little book 
that there are furs in the same collection being 
offered for what they are not. It's like "Japanese 
crab meat," which is a good quality of cod-fish. 

Of course there are many concerns, both large 
and small, which will never be entirely honest till 
compelled to be by law. These same firms prefer 
to sell their garments by deception whenever 



18 FURS AND 



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necessary to make the sale, either making an ad- 
justment or taking back the garments should the 
purchaser ever learn of the deception. 

We can suggest but one way to avoid this latter 
class of fur dealers — when you start out to shop 
for furs, choose your fur dealer much as you would 
a security for the safe investment of your money. 



PLUCKING AND UNHAIRING 

Most every one knows that rav/ furs must be 
dressed and dj'^ed before they can be rendered nt 
to wear. There is another process about which 
most people know nothing — that of plucking and 
unhairing. 

Nearly all fur-bearers have a coat of long, coarse 
hairs scattered over their coat of more abundant 
soft hairs. This under coat is what is known as 
fur. While in most animals the under coat is by 
far the more beautiful, there are a few animals 
whose skins are equally beautiful v/hen made up 
natural. To the latter class belong the muskrat, 
otter and beaver. 

Skins v/hich are to be plucked are soaked in 
v/ater till the leather is softened and the pores 
crc.ned the r!:ins are then v/armcd arjd the leather 
?ide cf the pelt ic fihaved to cut ci'f the roots of 
the long hairs. Plucking is then comparatively 
easy. 

Some other skins, principally seal, are plucked 
by a different process. For this purpose a machine 
was perfected late in the nineteenth century which 
m.akes possible the plucking of a pelt more rapidly 
and with better results. 

It is in this process of plucking or unhairing 
that certain skins take their first step toward im- 
itating more valuable furs. For instance: muskrat 
and coney skins are sheared till the surface is of 
uniform depth. After this they are either made 
up natural or dyed to resemble some costlier fur. 

Whether sold under its own name or som.e other 
name, there is a great deal of work to the pre- 
paring of furs for the adornment or comfort of 
their future wearers. The practical and reliable 
fur dealer knows and understands each operation 
as well as the "tricks of the trade." 



MYSTERY 19 



STONE MARTEN 

The Stone Marten substitutes are opossum and 
raccoon. Unfortunate, indeed, is the p^'rchaser 
v;ho pays the price cf stone marten and is given 
a substitute, for genuine stone marten is one of the 
costliest and most durable of furs. 

The skins must all be imported, either from 
Europe, Asia or India. Those coming from Turkey^ 
Bosnia. Hungary and Greece being the most beauti- 
ful, Vvrhile in Russia, Germany, Greece, Turkey and. 
Asia Minor they are caught in greatest numbers. 

Though resembling the common weasel in con- 
tour and action, they are brown in color and some- 
times called tlie white-throated marten because o£ 
the marking on that nortion of the animal. 

Another species of this little carnivorous animal' 
is the pine marten, a native of that part of North 
America wherein the pine trees grow over large 
areas, as it is in those trees that it obtains its chief.: 
source of food of birds, birds' eggs and squirrels. 

The color of the American Marten is also of as 
deep brown shade, almost black in some cases,. 
though some specimens are quite light with yellow- 
ish, tinted throat and breast. 

While ordinarily somewhat higher prices are paid 
for the darker shades, yet many people prefer the 
fur of the lighter hue; and it is but a matter o£ 
choice. 

The handsome color and densit7/ of fur of the 
marter. caught in the regions of the Hudson's Bay 
so closely resembles sable that it is often sold as 
Hudscn Bay Sable, but you will find that the 
reliable furrier will apprise you of this fact when 
you are shopping for fur apparel. 



SQUIRRELS 

There are so many species of squirrels and "near- 
squirrels" climbing trees, cracking nuts and "meow- 
ing" in all parts of the world, that Milady's squirrel 
coat, when bought in an unreliable store is indeed 
a mystery. 

The fur of the American squirrel is of no greater 
value than that of the common house cat, and yet 
even the latter is used to imitate the genuine. 



20 FURS AND 



The species that ere valuable come £rcm Russia 
and Siberia, those from the Amoor district in East- 
ern Siberia being the finest. These are known as 
Saccamania squirrels. 

The seccnd class is known as Yalrjtsky squirrels, 
which arc divided into tvv'o kinds. Then come the 
Lensky squirrels in four assortments according to 
color. Next the Yeniseiky class in three grades. 
Then Obskoy, Beisky, Kasan and so on down the 
line to poor old "Tabby" or "Tommy". 

The full meaning of this is that you must de- 
pend entirely upon the integrity of your dealer 
for honest value at v/hatever price you pay. 

Suppose, for instance, you pay for Saccamania 
and get Yatkutsky, or even Lensky — who knov/s, 
but the dealer? Most people do not have sufficient 
time these busy days to even stop to learn the pro- 
nunciation of the various names, much less their 
relative value. 

And what if they DID know the entire list? 

The dealer who plans to increase his profits by 
substitution v/ould just as soon tell you the piece 
in your hand v/as first grade Yakutsky, even though 
it be but fourth grade Lensky, knowing that none 
but an exoerienced furrier could catch him in the 
lie. 

It is vitauv imrrort.mt, too, to remesiber that 
the grcstcst field for deceit is in the cla^s that is 
most in demand — tiie good medium grade. 



^ MARMOT 

A fur bearing animal which runs the muskrat 
a good second for diversity of service and dur- 
ability is the Marmot, a little burrowing fellow of 
northern Europe. 

When alive its color is grey blended v/ith yel- 
low on the back and sides and greyish-bro^vn on 
the balance of the body. Along in the latter part 
of September it seeks its home in the earth and 
from then on till spring it is "not in" to visitors. 

The discovery of the marmot as a fur apparel 
possibility gave to people of moderate means the 
opportunity to obtain a handsome, lustrous durable 
fur. For the fur manufacturer by treatment and 
dyeing, brought forth the marmot skin so close in 



MYSTERY 21 



resemblance to the mink, even to the extent of 
producing the brilliancy of the December and 
January caught mink, that detection is difficult 
except by the experienced handler of furs. It is 
also used as a substitute for Jap mink. 

As before stated imitation" furs when sold as such 
are honest business transactionc which no one de- 
plores, but it is well to protect yourself against 
substitution by requesting a written guarantee 
that the article you purchase is just what the 
ticket calls for. 

At a fur sale in St. Louis some time ago, twenty- 
siv thousand house cat skins were offered. Are you 
sure that you would know old Tabby's skin if it 
were dressed in another color and name? 



FURS AND V/ARS 

The fur business has always felt the paralyzing 
effect of war as much as any other business and far 
more than some other lines of business. This is 
probably due to the fact that America, almost since 
its discovery, has been a fur exporting country. 

When the war of 1812 broke out, fur conditions 
in this country v/ere quite different from those of 
a hundred year later. At that time the annual col- 
lection of skins v/as far in excess of their domestic 
consumption and most of the furs exported v/ere 
sold at the fur markets in London. With the war on 
the market value of skins dropped till trapping was 
unprofitable. 

During our war of 1860-65 thousands cf former 
hunters and trappers joined the colors. As a con- 
sequence, prices of skins were high and the collec- 
tion far belov/ the demand. 

The havoc created by the v/orld war resulted in 
far greater loss to the fur business than did the 
earlier conflicts. Practically all of the countries 
at war were heavy consumers of furs from this 
country. When their ports were closed to Amer- 
ican shipping the prices of skins began to tumble. 
Merchants, in the face of rapidly changing condi- 
tions, bought but in small lots, a fact which fur- 
ther depressed the fur market. 

Many trappers, too, used to receiving far higher 
prices for their pelts, refused to accept the low 



22 FURS AND 



prices offered and trapping was almost at a stand- 
still until the demand for skins for military use 
somewhat strengthened the fur market. 

With the close cf the war the demand for furs 
for consumption both at home and abroad increased 
to a point far beyond that of pre-war days, and 
far beyond the supply. As the demand increased 
substitution likewise increased. Make sure of 
the furs you are buying by seeking a reliable fur- 
rier, for the immense amount of substitution makes 
a rich harvest for the unscrupulous dealer. 



FOX 

Foxes of every imaginable size, color and quality 
-of fur are found in every continent and country on 
the face of the globe. They range from skins 
tscarccly worthy of removel from the carcass to 
those which bring higher than three hundred dollars 
•in their raw state. 

Such being the case, it is unnecessary to go 
outside the Fox family itself to find room for 
enough substitution to make one's head swim. 

And unfortunately, it is true that no stone has 
been left unturned, or, to use a more apt expression 
— no fox has been left untampered, by unreliable 
furriers in their efforts to sell clever imitations at 
the price of the genuine. 

It seems v/ell right here to give a general idea 
of the relative values of the better known classes 
of fox skins, even though the average buyer has no 
way cf knov/ing that the skins she purchases are not 
masquerading in the class in which they have been 
placed. 

First comes the black fox, a native of Siberia, 
Canada and Alaska. Then, the silver fox, also 
, found in the same places, in Greenland and the 
northern parts of the United States as well; the 
blue fox from Alaska, Greenland, Iceland and Can- 
ada; the cross fox (bearing a dark stripe across its 
shoulders and down its back), found in Canada, 
northern New York, Wisconsin and Michigan. 

After these comes the white fox, which, strangely 
is either in strong demand or almost neglected. 
In the latter case the skin is skillfully dyed to 
imitate the black or the bhie fox — an imitation that 



MYSTERY 23 



would seem quite legitimate i£ ALL furriers would 
sell the skins as good imitation, and NOT as the 
genuine. 

The red fox is next in value, and following this 
the gray fox, a skin, with few exceptions, of little 
merit. 

There are other species beyond number, running 
lower and lov/er in valuation as the list lengthens, 
but you have read enough to see that fox skins may 
easily "jump" from one grade to another and that 
it is absolutely imperative to deal with a reliable 
furrier if you would get what you pay for. 




BEAVER 

Beaver is a fur which has been in great demand 
ever since the discovery of America; even before 
the arrival of the white man, the beaver was hunted 
and trapped by the Indian for its fur and as an ar- 
ticle of food. 

Owing to the ease with which they could be 
captured a quarter million pelts was an average 
year's catch up until late in the nineteenth century, 
but during the past thirty years the beaver has 
been growing scarcer unil today the annual catch 
is far under one hundred thousand peits. 

The fur of the beaver is remarkably soft and 
dense and varies in color from a beautiful golden 
brown to darker chestnut hues — some are reddish 
brown and others nearly black. Occasionally a 
pure white beaver is caught. 

The woman who has set her heart upon possess- 
ing a beaver coat or fur will do well to investigate 
carefully the reputation of the furrier from when* 



24 FURS AND 



she intends to buy, for the skin of the rabbit is 
sometimes plucked and dyed as a substitute for 
beaver, to which it corresponds in appearance, but 
not in durability. 

Nutria is another fur closely resembling beaver 
and is often sold as such. 

While any genuine beaver fur is very beautiful 
and very desirable, the cheeks of the beaver fur- 
nish a superior grade of fur which is largely used 
for trimmings and in the making cf the smaller fur 
pieces. 

It is estimated that the combined salaries of our 
school teachers, policemen and firemen do not total 
much more than one half the amount of money 
spent, and mis-spent, in furs. 

How greatly our educational and protection sys- 
tems could be improved if the mone}^ wasted in 
the unreliable fur store could be directed to that 
cause. 

Then, too, you would get real value for your 
money and your satisfaction would be two-fold. 

Before buying a beaver or any other fur, be sure 
your furrier is not only honest, but that he knows 
his business as well. 



PRICE VS. QUALITY 

A lady recently looked at a fur coat in the store 
or a certain furrier and considered his price fori 
the garment was too high; a few days later she vis- 5 
ited another store, finding a coat of the same fur i| 
and looking identically like the coat shown her: 
by the other furrier. 

She had almost decided to take the coat at the ; 
lower price, but, out of curiosity, she decided to 
ascertain, if possible, why there was such a vast , 
difference in price on these two coats appearing to | 
her to be identical. 

Possibly you have met with the same experience, ; 
so we'll tell you what she found : the first coat was , 
made from whole skins, while the second and ! 
cheaper coat was but a collection of small pieces 
or odds and ends of the same kind of fur, pieced to- 
gether, the density of the fur hiding the cheaper 
skins used in the piecing. 

Needless to say, she bought the higher priced' 
coat, which was far the cheaper in the end. 



MYSTERY 25 



This is by no means an unusual occurrence, for 
a clever furrier, willing to deceive his patrons for 
the sake of long profits, by cutting the skins into 
strips and piecing them together v/ith sheep skin 
or some other cheaper hide, can turn out a garment 
as good looking as the garment made from whole 
skins. 

The lining and padding of such pieces aid the 
dishonest furrier in his deception, but if you will 
grasp the garment firmly and rub it slowly between 
the hands, the many seams can readily be felt. 

This only proves that furs, like diamonds, should 
be bought from a dealer whose reputation for re- 
liability makes trickery impossible. 




SKUNK 

Skunk is a good fur that has had to live down 
'its own name. 

, Before the war, while Europe was buying Amer- 
can skunk skins under their rightful title, it was 
Found necessary, to sell it successfully in this coun- 
ty — to "rechristen" the animal as black marten, 
American Sable or French Sable. 

The deception, however, was finally discarded 
)y most of those who had adopted it, and today 
he purchaser of skunk fur has a strangely different 
)roblem on her hands — that of really getting skunk 
when she asks for it instead of some inferior fur 
iyed to imitate it. 



26 FURS AND 

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Poor little animal. First it dare not be known 
under its own real name, and now after the super- 
iority of its fur has won out over all obstacles, the 
title previously despised is now falsely used to sell 
a variety of substitutes. 

Among the more prominent masqueraders o£ 
skunk fur are raccoon and opossum, both of which 
have to be dyed to carry out the deception. Many 
a good reliable furrier carries in stock imitation 
skunk to serve those who do not care to pay the 
price cf the genuine, but where he differs from his 
imreliable brother is in the fact that he sells it 
honestly, properly priced, as imitation skunk, and 
NOT as genuine skunk improperly priced. 

Like ail other furs, skunk is naturally of many 
shades, ranging from skins that are almost unworthy 
of curing, up to truly beautiful peltries rivaling 
marten in excellence. 

This then, adds another reason to the long list 
for shunning the dealer who lacks integrity, for af- 
ter all, it would probably be better to get a good 
grade of raccoon or opossum imitation of skunk 
than the bottom grade of the genuine article. 

The furrier of established reliability is your one 
and only protection against fraud. 



THE INEXPERIENCED CLERK 

The sublime ignorance displayed by inexperienced 
clerks in seme stores in answering customers* 
questions is pathetic, but would be immoderately 
ludicrous v/cre it not for the fact that it is so 
often very costly to the customer. 

For instance, a girl v/as shopping for a beaver 
collar, and upon being shown one asked if the 
£ur was genuine beaver, and the clerk said, "Yes, 
that is genuine Nutria Beaver." Upon being pinned 
down for an explanation of what Nutria is, the 
clerk said that it is the fur from a beaver's stom- 
ach. 

Now, is it any seven-day wonder why people 
become dissatisfied when their fur apparel does 
not wear, or look, as it should. Nutria, the trade 
name of the South American Coypu, closely re- 
sembles some grades of North American Beaver, 



MYSTERY 27 

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but there is no reason why it should be sold as 
"Nutria Beaver", or the more ridiculous explana- 
tion, "fur from the beaver's stomach". 

Personal supervision by one of practical exper- 
ience should be given all transactions in fur. 
Clerks should have sufficient knowledge of furs that 
would enable them to be the buyers' assistant, and 
not merely a selling automaton. 

The shop of reliable furs will not only represent 
the merchandise in its true form, but when neces- 
sary will also open a seam and show what is be- 
low the beautiful lining and padding. 

Fur of the wolf makes warm, durable muffs and 
is highly prized by many owners, but, in view of the 
fact that a majority of people are but children in 
the hands of the unscrupulous dealer, it is well to 
beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing. 



28 



FURS AND 



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